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How close did bin Laden hunter get?
Last June an American construction worker was picked up in Pakistan on a one-man mission to capture Osama bin Laden.
Gary Faulkner was armed with a dagger, some biblical literature, a pistol, night-vision goggles and a sword, news reports said.
What's more, the man was even on dialysis, CNN reported at the time. And yet somehow he managed to end up in Chitral, a mountainous district in the northern tip of the country.
Chitral  was as logical a place as any to hunt for the most wanted terrorist in the world. News reports in the years since the 9/11 attacks had put bin Laden in fortress-like environs along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Chitral fit the bill. It was connected to the rest of the country by a strip of land so treacherous that it is often closed because of weather conditions.
On Sunday night, Americans received news that bin Laden was killed in his compound in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
How far off was Faulkner, whose across-the-world trek still remains shrouded in mystery?
Chitral to Abbottabad is roughly about 300 miles, according to Google Maps technology, indicating about a "7-hour" drive. Â Yeah right. To put the distance in perspective, according to Google, the two places are about the same distance as Atlanta, Georgia, to the Florida Panhandle.
Of course, much of the Pakistan route is undriveable because of foothills and mountains. The area is also said to be inhabited by fiercely independent tribes.
While Faulkner has talked to CNN in depth much of the details about his trip remain secret. What we do know is that he wants some of the $25 million reward money that was offered for bin Laden's kill or capture.
"I scared the squirrel out of his hole, he popped his head up and he got capped," Faulkner told ABC News this week, referring to bin Laden's death. "[U.S. officials] were handed this opportunity on a platter from myself," he was quoted as saying.
Faulkner also told ABC that assertions that bin Laden had been holed up in his compound in Abbottabad for more than half a decade were not true.
"He hadn't been living there for no damn six years," he told ABC. "I absolutely flushed him out."
Should Faulkner get a portion of the reward?
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Let's buy the nut job a haircut.
I THINK WE (AMERICAN PEOPLE) SHOULD PAY THE REWARD! (in monopoly money, seriously, the guy wont tell the difference). but he did try, so that should be worth something, PAY HIM DOUBLE! (in monopoly money).
Every day I wonder why I read CNN. This was the article today that made me wonder that.
Hahahahahahaha
A new hero emerges as the truth comes out!...actually, I deserve some of the 25 million too since I searched for bin laden in a in the Islamabad phone book and in google.
This guys for real. He did flush out OBL. (or was that, helped OBL flush, I forget...).
Why on Earth is CNN even interviewing this guy. Isn't there a tobacco spitting contest or monster truck rally somewhere that would rate more than this? CNN is only making a joke of itself.
Jeez, Mr. Faulkner, looks like we owe you some money. Now if you'll just follow the nice man in the white coat and get into the truck with the padded walls, we'll take you to the bank.
You got it wrong buddy... the 25million should go to the 9/11 families of lost ones..!!
hahaha this is great
Good luck dude...if anyone deserves this award it should be given to the Navy Seal team for putting a bullet through that a*** head! Better yet, distribute it amongst our brave men and women in service over there.
This has nothing to do with this clown.
Why did Pakistan send Helicopter parts to China if they are supposed to be our allies?Seems to me Pakistan is playing both sides here with the terrorists and China and just using us for more free money...Screw em all.Place a couple of Nuke Subs in the Indian Ocean and target Pakistani cities,Pull our troops home to guard our Border and tell Pakistan that if they want to be friends with the terrorists they can have them but remember when they attack us we just send in a cruise missile and Take out one of their cities.Seems fair to me a city for a mall or a pizza shop. Let em decide their fate.Simple choice to me.Why do we have to be the worlds policeman anyway.
dude, you should put "spaces" after your "periods"
worse thing CNN did was to post these 'sound offs.'
Worst thing is you not believing in free speech GO AND LIVE IN LYBIA OR IRAN....IDIOT!!
wow, this news reporting is really scraping the bottom. cool story bout the nutty guy with sword though.
This moron ought to be hunting down his hair stylist and the salesperson that sold him those glasses
NO WAY. NO REWAR FOR HIM... GIVE THE 25MILLION TO THE POOR FAMILIES WHO
LOST LOVE ONES IN 9/11 WTC... AT LEAST THEIR HEARTS WILL BE MENDED!!
GIVE THE REWARD TO THE FAMILIES ....OF 9/11 NOW!!!
No chance in hell he had anything to do with this operation. Better try the lottery if you want quick money fool!